Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

DENVER -- Samsonite Company Stores, formerly based in Denver, has paid $222,326 in overtime back wages to 212 employees following a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

The Wage and Hour Division District Office in Denver expanded a local investigation to include all stores nationwide after discovering that the company had been cited for similar FLSA violations in a previous investigation. Store managers at 138 of more than 180 luggage stores throughout the country failed to meet the FLSA provision for managerial exempt employees of supervising two or more full-time equivalent employees during all or part of the time they were designated as such.

“We are committed to protecting workers’ overtime rights and ensuring that they receive all the wages to which they are legally entitled,” said Alex Salaiz, the Wage and Hour Division’s district director in Denver. “We succeeded in recovering more than $200,000 in back wages for these workers.”

The company also was assessed and paid $45,540 in civil monetary penalties for repeat federal labor law violations. It came into compliance by changing all managers in stores not meeting the criterion of having two or more full-time equivalent employees to hourly status.

The FLSA requires that covered workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Employers must also maintain adequate and accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 31,987 compliance actions in fiscal year 2006 and recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 employees. Back-wage collections in fiscal year 2006 represent a 30 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since year 2001.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or contact the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Denver at 720-264-3250. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov. Information about the current exemption for white collar executive, administrative and professional employees can be found at www.dol.gov/fairpay.

###

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.